Five-star sergeants

On May 17 this year I testified at Civil Service trying to block the initiative to "promote" all detectives to sergeant. The majority of detectives did not want to be sergeants because they knew it was not a promotion, but a pretext to move unpopular detectives to the jail.

As soon as the change was consummated I received calls from numerous "former" detectives wanting to know if the union is going to file suit to block the change. Certainly if the law was on our side the suit would have already been filed, but state law gives our civil service commission the authority and duty to "adopt, publish and enforce rules regarding: (1) classification of employees; (2) competitive examinations; and (3) promotions" (Tex Local Govt. Code §158.035)

I predicted these convoluted promotions would create problems, but that prediction did not take a degree in rocket science. Now that we have a system where former detectives who were supervised by sergeants, are themselves sergeants, the problems are beginning to become manifest. Former detectives call me almost daily wanting to know if the union is going to file a complaint or grievance regarding sergeants supervising sergeants. The answer to that question is a qualified "probably".

In fact, we are looking forward to the opportunity to bring this issue back before the civil service commission or a court, but the circumstances for such a legal issue are not yet ripe. Without getting off into a lengthy discussion about "ripeness", a legal issue about which I am not qualified to write, suffice it to say this issue will not be ripe until we can show sergeants clearly are supervising sergeants, and thus violating the sheriff’s policy, civil service regulations, and CALEA rules. We are not quite there yet.

Meanwhile, to hold down on the inevitable confusion caused by this subterfuge, I want to help everybody identify the various ranks of sergeant in the Sheriff’s Office. Right now, if all sergeants were put in uniform and lined up shoulder to shoulder, we would all look the same: gold badge, sergeant stripes with three up, three down, and a diamond in the middle. But though we are all called sergeant, and civil service has only recognized one sergeant rank, there seems to be several gradations of sergeants.

I think we need a method of distinguishing between the various sergeant grades in the Sheriff’s Office, including (in alphabetical order) "administrative" sergeants, "investigative" sergeants, "junior" sergeants, "senior" sergeants, and "supervisory sergeants", and in this article I am recommending just such a method. Based loosely on the American military model, the Houston Fire Department, and the El Salvador Coast Guard, here is how I think it should be done.

I believe all sergeants should maintain the same chevron on their uniforms. The Sheriff’s Office chevrons are distinctive and make sergeants stand out in a crowd. To distinguish between the various grades of sergeants, in addition to the chevron, I believe we also need star designations.

Junior sergeants, those on probation or with insufficient seniority to get a weekend day for their RDO, should get one star in their epaulet. That will not make them generals because they will still have sergeant chevrons. One-star sergeants will work all Holidays and get all the "S"-details.

Sergeants who are not really sergeants, you know, those who were detectives but promoted to sergeant anyway so they can be more easily transferred, the convoluted ones we now call "investigative sergeants", will remain one-star sergeants all their life. After all, they weren’t intended to be sergeants in the first place; they just sort of are for purposes of transfer but are not really for any other purpose.

Sergeants who make probation, have someone to supervise, get the new supervisor training mandated for all real supervisors, and do schedules and evaluations, will have two stars on their epaulet. Rather than call them "two-star" sergeants we can all call them "real sergeants." Two-star sergeants will replace the current "junior sergeants."

Once a sergeant has enough seniority to get his or her first pay raise, if they meet all the other criteria, they will get three stars in their epaulet —thus we will call them "three-star" sergeants. However, if they were promoted from detective to sergeant in 2007, they will still remain one-star sergeants for the rest of their life regardless of seniority or pay.

Four-star sergeants will be required to have an MPO, receive top sergeant pay, and at least 15 years overall seniority. This is the highest plateau most sergeants will ever attain.

However, not many, but a few sergeants who have attained the level of 4-stars, those now known as "administrative sergeants", may attain the supreme level of 5-star sergeant. World War II hero General McArthur was a five-star general; thus we will call them "McArthur Sergeants".

"McArthur Sergeants must have at least one deputy working for him or her who does all his work. They should be overweight and able to sign the payroll and overtime report the deputy makes each day.

Non-Sheriff’s Office people with military background already tend to call SO sergeants "master sergeants" or "sergeant majors" because of our chevron design. Just think of how impressed the general public will be the first time they encounter a five-star master sergeant. True, they may be a little confused with stars and stripes on the same uniform, but so what. It will be so impressive and at least less confusing than the current system.

Actually, this is not the first time the Sheriff’s Office has bastardized the promotion and rank structure. Until the union took the issue to civil service about 15 years ago, we had Corporals. Corporals received deputy pay and the rank was never authorized or recognized by the civil service commission. Nevertheless, we had Corporals and they had gold badges and chicken stripes, at least until the union stepped in and filed a complaint.

At one time we also had an "investigator" rank. "Investigators" did detective work, wore a gold badge, and were assigned to the Detective Bureau, but only received deputy pay. By and large "Investigators" were would-be detectives who either could not pass or did not take the detective exam. They just knew somebody.

As long as the good-ole-boy system lives—and right now it is alive and thriving—we will always have some administrator attempting to circumvent the promotional system to promote their Bubbas. Convoluted promotional systems are unfair, wrong, usually illegal, and unprofessional, but they exist, thrive and are endemic where personal agendas supersede professionalism. The ONLY cure for this type of managerial misconduct is collective bargaining.

Good News: President George W. Bush has already said that if the collective bargaining bill working its way through Congress hits his desk he will sign it. Have you written our senators yet asking them to support H.R. 980? Here are their addresses again.

Honorable John Cornyn

517 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

(202) 224-2934

http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchinson

284 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

(202) 224-5922

http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html